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Lindy: (Welcome and Theme:) Today is the 5th Sunday of Lent. Our theme today will be waiting, one of the great challenges in our lives today. Let us come together as we listen to this meditation….
Meditation Song: It is Well With My Soul by Hymn Makers
Thaeda: (Opening Prayer)
Thank you, Great Goodness, for your presence in this time and place. Thank you, All Compassion for opening the ears of our hearts as we listen for your gentle guidance and wisdom in the form of word and song. We are aware of the value of waiting and so as we begin we come expectantly to receive from You, we commit to being patient with ourselves and with each other. Amen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Terri
A reading from the writings of Teilhard de Chardin
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete. (pause)
These are the inspired words of Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit theologian and paleontologist. In 1926 he was expelled from France for his liberal teaching, and assigned as pastor to a small church in China. There he discovered the Peking man. Our community affirms his words by saying, AMEN!
Response: My Soul in Stillness Waits (Dennis)
Refrain: For You, O God, my soul in stillness waits, truly my hope is in you.
Come, let us listen to the words of Wisdom, let every heart be open to our God,
For we are all the people of God’s hand.
Refrain
Second Reading: Jim Marsh
A reading from the writings of Howard Thurman
“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”
These are the inspired words of Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King’s spiritual director. Our community affirms them by saying, AMEN!--
Spirit of the Living God: Dennis
Spirit of the Living God
Open up our hearts
Spirit of the Living God
Open up our hearts
Silent, mindful, prayerful listening
Spirit of the Living God
Open up our hearts
Gospel: Katie
A reading from the Gospel attributed to the disciple known as John
Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks who approached Philip saying 'Sir, we should like to see Jesus.'
Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.
He replied to them saying, “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” To the Greeks he said, “I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain... but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.”
These are the inspired words attributed to the disciple known as John. Our community affirms them by saying, AMEN! (John 12:20-26)
Homily Starter: Lindy Sanford-Martinez
Yesterday was such a beautiful day here. I made coffee as the sun was rising. I sat down with that first wonderful cup and looked out the window. I saw a bluejay observing his surroundings with curiosity and assurance. Like our Friend, the God with many names... dropping by to check up on us! That’s how Spring Solstice began for me.
We have been waiting for many months. Teilhard de Chardin reminds his friend in a letter that
“We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.”
The pandemic brought the whole world a difficult time of waiting...almost exactly a year ago. While there is improvement... stress and waiting to understand all the effects this pandemic is still here.
Violence has grown expediently during the pandemic. We wait for understanding why...for resolution... for hope and for peace within our country and around the world…
Here in the United States we have experienced what feels like the worst political and financial upheaval our country has ever known. We wait and hunger for resolution here, too.
If we had to wait a month or even a day we would be impatient. We have been impatient over a stressful year now.
Many...including those of us here today... know how important inclusivity, justice, and kindness are to begin change in our world. Imperfect as we are, we seek to be inclusive, provide justice, and pour out the lovingkindness we feel coming from the Universe onto others. Here we promise in Liturgy every week to live this way. Still we are impatient.
Jesus did what he thought was right. Poured his heart into showing others how to feel God’s love, experience the happiness that it brings...shared how to live it with everyone around him.... He knew that teaching that every moment he spoke would cost him a great deal. He thought sharing what he had discovered was worth the cost... and he waited.
The seasons of the earth bring us a great wisdom we don’t often hear. Summer brings us warmth and energy. It’s bright light helps us see rapid growth clearly. Extended warmth and light give us time to enjoy being outside. Fall brings us ever changing beauty. Times of harvest remind us of foods that nourish us. Ripening fruit reminds us that there is sweetness all around us. Winter gives us time to rest. It reminds us that growth and change often needs quiet and contemplation.
The Solstice that bluejay was observing reminds us that hope is a sacred seed within us...pushing up, green with life and strength.
For this sacred seed to thrive and grow we must make space for it in our hearts...now filled with stress that has come with this year’s waiting.
We must water this sacred seed with our hopes and dreams of what our world needs.
We must weed out fear, giving this sacred seed room to grow into the better world we envision. We must harvest our hopes and dreams by giving ourselves...then others... the lovingkindness we know we need.(pause)
Howard Thruman tells us that in waiting we can find what is genuine within ourselves.
We are all a sacred people. What have you found in these readings? If you like, share your wisdom.
(Shared Reflections)
Lindy: (closing Homily) Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Let us together make our Statement of Faith
Ginny: We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
Mike: We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
Ginny: We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
Mike: We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
Ginny: We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Dennis: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to the table our blessings, cares and concerns.
We bring these and all our unspoken blessings, cares and concerns expressed in the depths of our hearts.
Lindy: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us as we set our hearts on belonging to you. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all creation.
Thaeda: You know our limitations and our essential goodness and you love us as we are. You beckon us to your compassionate heart and inspire us to see the good in others and forgive their limitations. Acknowledging your presence in each other and in all of creation, we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ
Thaeda: Guiding Spirit, when opposing forces in us tug and pull and we are caught in the tension of choices, inspire us to make wise decisions toward what is good.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, and for all our sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by them, we choose life over death, we choose to be light in dark times. (pause)
Thaeda: Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift the plate and pray:
Ginny: When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift the cup and pray:
Lindy: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity.
Please receive communion saying: You and I are the Faces of the Holy One.
Communion Song: You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban
Lindy: Holy One, your transforming energy is within us. We join our hearts with all who are working for a just world. We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities.
Thaeda: We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit. It is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways.
Amen.
Ginny: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Thaeda: Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Ginny: Please extend your hands as we bless each other.
Thaeda: Holy One, you are within, around and among us. You do give us all that we need when we dare to listen to you.
May you urge us to risk boldly swimming against the tide, and drink from your sustaining waters. Then we may find the inner peace only You can give which we can model in our daily actions.
AMEN.
Closing Song: A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke
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